Canada: Race to save whales stuck in ice

Canadian rescue workers are racing against time to rescue 11 killer whales trapped in ice in Hudson Bay.

>>>Video: Killer whales stuck in the ice

Inukjuak town government, 1,500km north of Montreal, where whales are trapped, says the fish are breathing through a hole in the ice. They are at least 10km away from the freezing sea. The Canadian Fisheries and Oceanic Authority said it had sent a team of experts to the area on 10/1 to assess the situation.

Rescue stranded whales

According to the BBC, a fish hunter in the area discovered a group of whales on January 8, a day after the bay was frozen. Dozens of locals have crossed the road more than an hour by car on ice to see the whales stuck.

Simeonie Nalukturuk, public security official Inukjuak, said killer whales never appeared in the area in January. 'We only see them in the summer, never seen in the winter , ' Nalukturuk said.

The villagers said that the holes on the ice seemed to be shrinking, which is very dangerous for fish caught when they have no room to breathe and will die.

Inukjuak mayor, Petah Inukpuk, said he had asked an icebreaker to come to rescue the whales, but the Canadian Fisheries and Oceanic Agency said they were assessing the situation to choose the most viable solution, due to icebreakers are currently very busy when freezing weather covers many parts of the country. The agency also said there were three commercial ships trapped on the ice along the St Lawrence River in Quebec.